


Bedtime Story

by BBCMuggle



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2145681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBCMuggle/pseuds/BBCMuggle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years later, Simmons still reads him his favorite story, even if he's not around anymore to hear it</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedtime Story

Simmons shuffled over to the bed, trying to smile for him as she always did.

 _Don't worry_. She told herself.  _He just needs to hear your voice. Today's no different than any other day_.

That wasn't true of course. Today everything changed. But she couldn't think about that.

Simmons lowered herself into the chair by Fitz's bed and pulled a book off the bedside table.

"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was on the cover, printed with gold ink and surrounded by the stereotypical magnifying glasses and notebooks usually associate with Sherlock Holmes.

"Okay, Fitz." Simmons tried to keep her voice steady. "What would you like to hear today?"

No reply.

"How about your favorite? The Red-Headed League. We haven't read that one in a while." Her voice was cheery, but her eyes were sad.

The last time they had read this particular story together was years and years ago. It was shortly after they had discovered Hydra's influence in SHIELD and Fitz had fallen into a coma. Simmons had picked up Fitz's favorite book and sat by his unconscious body for hours just reading aloud.

It was strange how they were back where they started. It was as if nothing had changed. But everything had.

Simmons flipped through the heavy-bound volume, now worn from use, until she found the passage she was looking for. With shaking hands, she smoothed the page and began to read.

And from the moment her voice touched the air, the room became alive with adventure. Simmons was a storytelling expert and she put her heart and soul into the reading as though it were the last story on earth.

Because to her, it was.

But to Fitz, it was inaudible and unintelligible.

When Fitz first fell into his coma, Simmons spent every waking moment trying to get him out of it. She was willing to try anything, including Coulson's mysterious miracle drug. But she never got a sample of it. And some things are impossible to fix. The brain damage was too widespread. He was out for too long.

So she distracted herself. She passed her field test and started doing solo missions. She learned to shoot a gun as well as invent them. She became a supervising officer to a bright young recruit that was so similar to Fitz it made her heart ache. But she learned to be strong. She learned to close herself off to keep from getting hurt.

But she still saw Fitz.

Every free moment she had, she would go to his hospital room and read him stories. But the moment a nurse or doctor came round, she was nowhere to be seen.

Now, years later, she was reading to him one last time.

Her last mission was a disaster. Not only did she let her target escape, but her supporting agents were critically wounded and put in hospital rooms alongside Fitz. And she finally realized something she'd been avoiding since the moment Fitz hit that button in the pod on the bottom of the ocean.

The story was over. Sherlock had solved the case in front of Watson's wondering eyes and justice had been served to the criminals involved.

The room fell silent and the stillness of death engulfed it once more.

Simmons wanted to linger, but she knew it would be unwise. So she raised herself from the chair, bending over Fitz's unconscious face as she did so. She brushed her lips against his forehead, running her hands over what used to be his curly red hair - now flat and lifeless.

"Goodbye, Fitz." She whispered as she summoned all her strength to draw away from him, turn, and walk out of the room.

In a few minutes, the doctors would come and take Fitz off life support. Everyone had told Simmons she should be there for it, for his last moments alive. And they were right. It was only fitting that Simmons should be with Fitz in the moment of his death.

And she was. Years ago when he gave her his last breath, saving her life and ending his, they were together. Those were his last moments on earth. Everything since then had been Simmons' selfish attempts to bring him back. And she had failed.

There was no FitzSimmons anymore. There hadn't been for a long time. There was only a broken Simmons who tried to be strong. 


End file.
